East Vernon Deli, at 106 E. Vernon Ave., has changed hands and reopened with a new menu and décor.

Now called Eastside Café, the restaurant will be featuring Southern-style cooking with a culinary flair, said Owner Keith Jones. The new menu starts Tuesday.

“I would describe it as vibrant,” he said about the restaurant, “and something new to Kinston.”

A native of New Jersey and a graduate of a culinary program in Scotch Plains, N.J., in 1994, Jones brings his years of experience working in steakhouses and major hotels, as well as serving as a banquet cook, to Kinston.

“Just because you graduate from culinary school,” he said, “doesn’t necessarily mean you are a bona fide chef until you start from the bottom and go through the chain of command learning from executive chefs. Those are the people you learn from in your journey of becoming a chef.”

One of his experiences was preparing breakfast and lunch dishes for reasonable prices at a highly-polished corporate café in a pharmaceutical company’s basement.

“We’re trying to develop and create that atmosphere,” Jones said. “… We have great food and we have the best prices in town.”

The restaurant offers dine in, call in and pick up at the drive-up window for lunch and dinner. There is also catering available off-site or on-site seating up to 70 people.

Currently, the café offers subs, chicken wings and finger food. The new Southern-style menu will feature a serving line of choices, such as turkey wings, hamburger steak, pork chops, smothered chicken, macaroni and cheese and homemade yeast rolls.

“We don’t want to be known as just sandwiches, anymore,” Jones said. “We want to be known for hot foods, as well.”

Meats are marinated and desserts, including sweet potato pie and lemon pound, banana crunch and pineapple cakes, are homemade.

“Everything here at this restaurant will be made from scratch,” Jones said.

A lunch special will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include a half sandwich, chips and drink. Seniors, emergency responders and government and corporate employees with identification can receive 5 percent off the daily special.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, children ages 7 and under eat for free with a limit of two children per adult.

Eastside Café is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For information, call 252-523-2230.

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Allstate Insurance-Chris Humphrey Agency has been designated as an Allstate Premier Agency for 2013.

The designation is given to agents for outstanding performance and their commitment to putting customers at the center of their work.

“It’s definitely an honor,” Humphrey said. “It’s a testament to the hard work of my staff.”

Humphrey has two full-service locations in Kinston and Goldsboro, offering a variety of insurance, including farm and workplace benefits, and financial services.

This is the second year his agency has received the award, given to Allstate agency owners who have demonstrated excellence in customer experience and in achieving outstanding business results.

“You’ve got to rank high in customer service,” he said. “We’re just about always available with social media and email.”

Humphrey said his agents bring years of experience, and the offices stay open all day — even through lunchtime.

The Allstate Premier Agency designation is bestowed upon less than 38 percent of Allstate’s nearly 10,000 agency owners across the country.

Humphrey, a Wilson native who grew up in Kinston, has owned the agency since 1999. He graduated from Lenoir Community College and earned a degree in political science from UNC in 1992.